


luck; irredeemable

by OfAllTheStarsAligned



Category: RWBY
Genre: Ace-Ops Tyrian AU, Ace-Ops Tyrian Theory, Best Friends to Enemies, CRWBY: the ace-ops arent friends, Canon-Typical Violence, Friends to Enemies, Gen, Mild Blood, Minor Character Death, because SOMEONE committed a MURDER, me ignoring that: anyways, you get one guess on who did it go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-13 11:37:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21493657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfAllTheStarsAligned/pseuds/OfAllTheStarsAligned
Summary: Clover stands across from the man he once thought of as his best friend. Now, they're on opposite sides of a war.Neither of them have regrets about their paths.
Relationships: Tyrian Callows & Clover Ebi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	luck; irredeemable

**Author's Note:**

> Aurea is my personal OC I made specifically for this story. As Tyrian is the scorpion from the Scorpion and the Frog fable, she is the frog.
> 
> Tyrian's weapons had a different name throughout the fic, as this is set before he joined Salem
> 
> This theory really struck a chord with me, so here is my first ever RWBY fic! Enjoy!

In that moment, Clover froze and his grip on his fishing rod slipped as he involuntarily let out a soft gasp. 

_ Clang. Clang. Clatter. _

Kingfisher hit the metal grates on the street and Clover continued to stare. 

"Clover?" Ruby asked, her voice laced with concern as she saw who captured his attention.

Unblinking, Clover never moved his gaze. His voice was soft and confused as he finally whispered, "Tyrian..." 

"You know him?" Qrow's voice came next, his voice wavering in some form of anger that Clover could not place.

He could not tear his eyes away from the scorpion Faunus across the street. Clover could feel all eyes on him, some in concern, confusion, or anger. He could feel their gazes on him, but his own never moved.

Breath caught in his throat, unable to speak, Clover remained silent. He tried to open his mouth to speak, but his mouth could not even attempt to keep up with his racing mind. He simply stared at Tyrian and the oh-so familiar braid falling down his back.

Tyrian filled the silence. His eyes glanced over the group, a wicked smirk on his face as his eyes finally paused on Clover.

"Well," he slowly drawled, though his voice was filled with ecstasy, "isn't this a lovely reunion?"

* * *

At 26, Clover Ebi became the leader of Atlas’s new Ace Operatives team. From what he knew of his team, he would be joined by five more Huntsmen, and they were all top Atlas Academy graduates. He had heard rumors, but nothing concrete about his teammates’ identities.

Now, he stood with five individuals, four humans and one Faunus by his count. He recognized all of their faces, remembering them from his own time in the academy. Every grade in the academy had hundreds of students, so Clover couldn’t remember them all, but he made the effort to try to keep names and faces together. Their introductions had already been made, so they were having a light conversation about the Ace-Ops and how they were honored to be selected. 

Clover remembered the tall, pale man as Vine Zeki. He knew they were the same age, but he could not recall his weapon or semblance. He remembered Vine was a very quiet, reserved man during school. He stood with them quietly with his hands clasped before them, nodding along with their conversation. 

Vine’s partner, now and even in their academy days, was Elm Ederne. Clover would admit, he was never sure how they worked so well together. Elm had always been loud and brash, always speaking her mind. While Vine was always so silent. However, they were one of the best pairs in Atlas at the time, so he was eager to learn how they worked together. She laughed loudly at a joke she had just told and bumped Vine with her shoulder as she attempted to pull him into the conversation further.

Harriet Bree entered Atlas Academy while Clover was getting ready for graduation. She was a few years younger than him, so he didn’t know a lot about her. He remembered her speed semblance above everything else. She stood confidently with hands on her hips alongside her new team. She and Elm had already agreed to an arm wrestling match later.

The second to last of his new teammates, and his own partner, was another man his age, Tyrian Callows. Tyrian had always been ruthless when he killed Grimm, more than most Huntsmen. Clover realized he couldn’t remember much of anything about Tyrian, he mostly stuck to the shadows and his own team, who he also could not recall, during his time in the academy. His posture was relaxed with a slight smirk on his face as he listened to Elm’s story about a mission she had gone on with Vine. His long black hair draped down his back and shoulders; Clover had always silently wondered how people with long hair fought with it down, didn’t it get in the way?

The last of the Ace-Ops was Aurea Belle. She was a frog Faunus with webbed fingers and the same age and height as Harriet, her partner. She lightly bounced on her heels, causing her shoulder-length brown hair to fly around, fully enraptured in Elm’s theatrical storytelling.

Clover smiled to himself, a feeling of honor washed over him as he scanned over the faces of his new teammates. He was exceedingly proud to be leading a team of such highly skilled individuals. 

Then, General Ironwood walked over, which caused them all to immediately halt their conversation to turn and salute. The General kindly smiled and waved his hand, signalling them to be at ease.

“Have you all taken the time to introduce yourselves, perhaps relive your days in the academy?” he asked, a slight smile on his face.

They all relaxed, taking up their own comfortable stances as they nodded and verbally agreed. Excitement was evident in everyone’s voices.

General Ironwood nodded, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Wonderful. You start team exercises tomorrow. For today, get to know each other."

***

One week after the Ace-Ops formed, they returned to Atlas from their first mission. They were on their flight back, soaring over the bleak tundra that surrounded the Kingdom. Clover had already finished his short mission confirmation call to Atlas Control and the debriefing with the rest of the Ace-Ops.

“Elm, that was so amazing! You just picked up that Beowolf and chucked it like it was nothing!” Aurea said, jumping up from her seat and nearly hitting her head on the roof of the ship after she accidentally activated her semblance in her excitement. 

Elm laughed as Aurea came back down from the ceiling, “I should be saying that to you, springboard! You jumped like three times your height over a pack of those things and then attacked them!” 

Clover smiled as he watched Aurea bounce around the other Ace-Ops, showering them with compliments and receiving theirs in turn.

A slight _hiss_ in pain came from Clover’s left. He turned and there was Tyrian, working through tangles in his hair with his fingers. Tyrian gave one final tug through the knot and his hair fell loose, though frizzy at the ends.

“Happen a lot?” Clover asked.

Tyrian looked up, still carefully working his hands through his hair in some attempt to control it again. “Yes, unfortunately. It’s quite bothersome, but I’m not particularly fond of the idea of cutting it short.”

Clover hummed and continued to watch Tyrian finger-comb his hair for another minute.

“Elm?” he said, finally getting an idea.

Elm looked over from her conversation with Aurea, something about how high they thought Aurea could get if Elm helped her get more height in her jumps. “Yeah, Clover?” she asked.

“Do you have an extra hair tie?” he continued with a motion to Tyrian.

Elm paused for a moment before checking her pockets. “Eh, no. Sorry, Clover.”

“Oh, I have one!” Aurea said and tossed her spare brown hair tie to Clover.

Clover smiled, “Thanks, Aurea,” he said before he sat down by Tyrian.

“Mind if I try something?”

Tyrian raised his eyebrow, but shrugged and turned his back to Clover, “Go right ahead.”

Clover smiled softly as he combed his fingers through Tyrian’s hair without catching on any tangles. He carefully separated Tyrian’s hair into three parts before braiding it. With that, a low braid hung in between Tyrian’s shoulder blades.

“There, maybe try something like that,” Clover said as he finished carefully loosening some sections of the plait.

Tyrian pulled the braid forward as he turned back to face Clover. He lightly traced over the braid with his fingers before he gave Clover a slight smile. 

“Thanks, I think this should work wonderfully.”

Clover smiled at Tyrian. 

Aurea came over and pulled Tyrian’s braid over her hands, “Oh, you look cute with a braid, Tyr.”

Tyrian gave her a wider smile, “Well, why thank you, Miss Froggy.”

Clover raised his eyebrow at that, but Aurea just laughed, not seeming to take any offense in it.

The Ace-Ops sat in an odd rectangle around the ship, continuing to compliment and offer advice to each other based on their fight. In time, they arrived back in Atlas.

***

A few months after the Ace-Ops formed, Clover stood on the training room viewing platform with Vine, Harriet, and Aurea. Tyrian and Elm were below getting ready for their practice battle. 

Aurea sat on the edge of the balcony, lightly swinging her feet in the air. She turned back and waved her arm, motioning for Clover, Vine, and Harriet to join her. Clover, Vine, and Harriet sat with Aurea on the edge as Tyrian and Elm finished their stretches and a few practice strikes on the ground floor.

Tyrian and Elm’s pictures and aura levels flickered up onto the screen. Timber and Scorpion Stings were both out and ready to go.

“Go Tyr!” Aurea shouted.

Harriet made her response soon after as she lightly bumped Aurea with her shoulder, “Kick his ass, Elm!” 

Aurea lightly shoved Clover as Harriet slapped Vine on the back, “Cheer for your partner,” they said in unison.

Clover laughed slightly before he cupped his hands around his mouth, “You can do it, Tyrian!”

Vine sighed and said, just barely above his normal volume, “You will triumph, Elm!”

With that, they were off, Tyrian fired Scorpion Stings as he backed away, not intending to allow Elm to get too close to him.

Elm blocked most of the shots with Timber, though a few hit her arms and caused her aura to shine briefly. It dropped down to 96%.

Tyrian’s brief respite away from Timber’s head was cut short when Elm swung towards him. He dodged, dipping backwards and hanging almost parallel to the ground.

“I will never understand how he has such perfect balance,” Harriet said as she rested her elbows on her legs, chin in her hands.

Tyrian flipped over and back onto his feet after Timber cleared his body. He moved forwards and slashed at Elm’s stomach with his blades before he attempted to put distance between himself and Elm again. Unfortunately for him, he did not get that far. He was suddenly smashed in the side and, with a yelp, was sent careening into one of the lower blocks.

**Tyrian: 74% - Elm: 88%**

With an audible _hiss_ in pain and a brief aura flicker, Tyrian made his way to his feet. He held his lower back with his hand, slightly hunched over and had an obvious scowl on his face.

“Oooh Tyr’s getting serious,” Aurea said as she leaned back on her hands.

Elm raced forwards as Tyrian stood, swinging Timber towards him again. Tyrian, however, smirked and jumped up. His feet connected with Timber’s head and he leaped upwards, flipping before he landed four blocks higher in the air. 

Tyrian cackled to himself while he fired Scorpion Stings at Elm as she made her way up the blocks in pursuit of him. Elm ran towards the edge of her block and leaped towards Tyrian’s, once she made contact, she used her semblance to keep from falling. Once she was firmly on the ground, she continued her move towards Tyrian, swinging Timber at him.

Tyrian attempted to dodge by ducking below again, however Elm counted on that and swung lower, hitting him and sending him flying off the pillar and towards another.

Clover winced in pain as Tyrian’s aura level dropped down below 60%.

“He’s really—” he started, but didn’t get to finish.

Tyrian’s knee length coat hit the ground, but Tyrian did not follow it. Six blocks up on a ten block structure, Tyrian hung, laughing to himself. His _ tail _ was punctured into the block, allowing him to hang freely.

“Well, isn’t this fun?” Tyrian said before bursting out into harder laughter. His stinger detached from the block and landed on his feet on the ground.

“He’s a Faunus?” Clover said in shock and looked to the others.

Vine and Harriet seemed just as surprised as him, but Aurea just had a soft smile on her face.

“Yeah, he is,” she said.

Harriet raised her eyebrow, “You knew?”

“He told me the day the Ace-Ops was formed. I guess he didn’t want me to feel lonely, being the only Faunus on the team.”

“But why hide it from us?” Vine asked.

Aurea was quiet for a moment, the clashing metal from Tyrian and Elm’s battle continued.

“He… he told me he prefers to hide it when he meets new people, until he knows who he can trust. Plus, when fighting battles against other people, criminals and otherwise, it’s like his secret weapon, if he needs it,” Aurea explained. “People can’t prepare for the reality of fighting a scorpion Faunus, if they think they’re just fighting a human.”

“So, he thinks of his tail as a third weapon?” Clover questioned.

Aurea looked at him and shrugged before they turned back to Tyrian and Elm’s fight. Tyrian was using his tail now, feigning strikes at Elm to keep her off balance.

“I suppose,” Aurea said as they watched Tyrian break Elm’s concentration enough to sweep his foot beneath hers, sending her stumbling before using her semblance to balance again. Tyrian used that as an opportunity to strike. 

“I think every Faunus has a unique connection to their trait,” Aurea continued. “I mean, I like mine, but I don’t see any point in hiding it the way Tyrian does. I can’t really do too much with this.”

She raised one of her hands in front of her, extending and retracting her fingers to show the green webbed tissue. Harriet placed her hand on top of Aurea’s giving her a smile, which Aurea returned. Clover wrapped his arm around Aurea’s shoulders, giving her an affectionate squeeze and Vine gave her a soft smile.

Aurea continued, “My trait is entirely harmless, but Tyr… Tyrian’s really is a weapon. He’s a scorpion and like a scorpion, he’s venomous.”

Clover’s eyebrows raised, “Really?”

“Yeah, that’s another reason why he hides it. It’s extremely easy for humans to write him off as dangerous because of that trait.”

The four sat in silence after that, watching Tyrian fight Elm, now beginning to overtake her with the extra help from his tail.

Aurea laughed quietly, “But now we have our own super secret club.”

Clover snorted slightly, “A club?”

“Yeah!,” Aurea said, “Faunus Members of the Ace-Ops Who Have Yellow Eyes.”

Clover, Vine, and Harriet paused for a moment, looking at Aurea’s golden eyes before looking up to Tyrian’s picture; yellow eyes. They stayed quiet for another moment before starting to laugh.

“Oh that’s so good,” Harriet laughed.

Vine's chuckling stopped as he looked back to the screen, “The fight is almost over.”

Clover looked up. Tyrian’s aura level stayed steady around 50%, but Elm’s had continued to decrease, it was about 25% now.

They looked down to the fight. Elm leaned heavily against Timber, panting. Tyrian sat atop of tail, perched and simply watching Elm.

“That’s a bit sadistic of him,” Vine commented.

Harriet shrugged, “Hey, Tyrian’s always been a bit weird.”

As Elm began to stand, Tyrian struck. He raced forward and with a quick flash of purple and a shout from Elm, the match ended. Elm’s aura reserves dropped to 0%, and Tyrian’s dropped to 44% meaning he must have taken some damage or used his semblance in the process.

Clover, Harriet, Aurea, and Vine dropped down from their spots on the balcony and went towards the two combatants. Clover was a bit worried for Elm’s safety as her aura was completely depleted.

Elm slowly sat up from her spot on the ground, grunting in pain. Tyrian seemed to stare at her for a moment, before he retracted Scorpion Stings’s blades and offered Elm his hand. He helped her up and kept her stable.

“Are you alright?” he asked as his tail snaked its way around his waist, forming almost a large belt.

“Are you joking?” Elm asked, before slapping Tyrian’s back. “That was amazing! I’ve never seen you fight like that before!”

Tyrian coughed after the hit, “Thanks,” he wheezed out.

“Aurea!” Elm called, “I think Tyrian’s going to give you a run for your lien with all that jumping around.”

Aurea looked at Tyrian for a moment before she started laughing. “Oh please, Tyr could never beat me!”

“Well, do give me the chance to try, Miss Froggy,” Tyrian smiled and said, causing Aurea to laugh again.

Clover stood in a circle with the Ace-Ops, laughing and talking about their favorite parts of their battle. Tyrian carefully undid his barely-there braid before lightly bumping Clover’s shoulder, silently asking him to redo it. Clover smiled and nodded, taking the brown hair tie and braided Tyrian’s hair again.

***

That night, Clover sat in the lounge with Tyrian. It was past two in the morning and everyone else had already went to bed. Clover sat on one side of the couch, one foot planted on the floor and one leg extended over the rest of it and leaned against the arm. Tyrian sat in the armchair next to him, legs curled up towards him and just barely watching the movie they had put on. He was mostly focused on brushing out his hair again and putting it up into a bun so it was out of his face. His scorpion tail draped down the chair, his stinger lightly brushing the floor. 

Tyrian didn’t turn towards him as he spoke, “You want to ask about it, right?”

Clover startled slightly, unintentionally starting to nod off, “What?”

Tyrian looked towards him, then down at his tail, then back up again.

“Well…” Clover started, “Aurea told us what you had told her and some of her own introspection. I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Tyrian shrugged a bit as he pushed back a few stray hairs that managed to escape the bun. “It’s fine by me. If it wasn’t, I would’ve continued to hide it.”

Clover supposed that was true. 

“Miss Froggy told you my reasoning behind it already?” Tyrian questioned as he leaned against his hand. “I hide it for my own protection, and to get the upper hand in some battles.”

Clover nodded.

“A scorpion tail is a dangerous trait to have. I’d prefer not to get attacked in the streets of Atlas, or Mantle, because of it.”

Clover wanted to disagree, but he knew that something like that could potentially happen. “I wouldn’t let anyone touch you.”

Tyrian laughed quietly, “Well, I appreciate that. I hope you’re extending that offer to Miss Froggy.”

“Of course.”

Tyrian smiled slightly and his tail moved up and into his lap. He lightly ran his fingers over the stinger, just barely touching the sharp point. 

“Aurea said you’re… venomous, like an actual scorpion,” Clover said, his voice slightly questioning.

Tyrian hummed in thought, “Yes, I am.”

“Is it… your semblance?”

Tyrian tilted his head slightly, “No, it’s just… an innate ability I have as a scorpion Faunus. My semblance is something different.”

Clover turned to lower the TV’s volume. “Do you mind if I ask what it is? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you use it, if it’s something physical, that is.”

“Well, it isn’t something I use often. I did use it during my and Elm’s fight today, though.”

Clover thought of the brief flash of purple before Elm’s aura depleted to zero.

Tyrian continued, “I don’t use it a lot because it’s completely worthless against Grimm. I can only use it against people.”

Tyrian raised his hand and it glowed purple for a few seconds before dissipating again.

“Wow,” Clover said, stunned for a moment, “what does it do?”

“I can disable people’s auras, completely deplete them, however you want to think about it. So, completely worthless against Grimm, but in a fight against criminals, I think I could end it fairly quickly. I don’t know if it beats natural good luck, though.”

Clover snorted slightly, “Come on, everyone has an amazing semblance. I was just _ lucky _ enough to get this one.”

Clover laughed a bit and dodged the throw pillow Tyrian had actually thrown at him.

“Seriously though, maybe the General will send you out on more criminal-based missions if he knew that,” Clover said as he picked up the pillow and set it on the couch.

Tyrian hummed quietly, looking over to the movie for a moment, “Perhaps…”

***

A few weeks later, Tyrian went out on a Huntsman mission to catch a notorious murderer that was on the run around the streets of Atlas. He had been in custody before, but continuously escaped from the authorities. Clover could tell Tyrian was confident in his abilities, but he still felt extreme concern for his friend.

Tyrian returned four hours later, with a few minor injuries, mission completed. The man was dead, deep stab wound in his torso with blood and poison draining out. Tyrian refused to talk about the mission with anyone after that.

***

Clover was 27 when Harriet broke her ankle on a Grimm extermination mission. It was meant to be a quick and easy mission. There were a group of Sabyrs lingering too close to Mantle, so they went to handle it before anything happened. However, even with a speed semblance, it was best to be careful when walking on ice.

Harriet huffed and flopped back against her pillow for, what Clover counted, the seventh time. Her leg was propped up with a few pillows and her crutches leaned against the wall by her bed.

“This sucks!” she complained.

“We know, you’ve said that nine times now,” Vine said. “I’m beginning to consider holding you down with my semblance.”

Harriet just groaned.

Aurea sat on the edge of Harriet’s bed, scrolling through her charts. “It’s going to be about six weeks until you heal, Hare. Maybe with aura it’ll be five. You still need to stay in bed, though. You’ll only make it worse if you keep moving it around.”

“But what about the mission, Aurea?” Harriet said and Clover thought he detected a _ hint _ of a whine in her tone.

Harriet and Aurea were scheduled to go on _ another _ extermination mission together, now a pack of Beowolves drew near to Mantle. While destroying marauding Grimm wasn’t the reason they were brought together, it was something they enjoyed doing, if only to hone their skills in combat.

Aurea gave a small shrug to Harriet as she turned to Clover.

Clover paused for a moment as he looked over everyone in the room. Vine was continuing in his attempts to keep Harriet in bed, so she wouldn’t strain her broken ankle. Elm had gone to retrieve Harriet some food, so she would have one less excuse to get out of bed. Tyrian lingered by the wall and leaned against it, giving ample space between himself and the others. He was carefully redoing his braid to be tighter, as it slowly fell loose throughout the day.

“Tyrian,” he said which caused said man to look up, “take Harriet’s place and go with Aurea on the mission tomorrow.”

A lazy smirk made its way across Tyrian’s face as he lifted one hand to give Clover a two-fingered salute, albeit jokingly. “Of course, it’d be my honor.”

***

Two days after Tyrian and Aurea left on their extermination mission, Clover received a short, desperate distress call from Aurea.

_ “Clover, I need help. Tyria-” _ she then let out a shriek and the call ended.

Clover was on a ship with Elm and Vine, flying to where Aurea’s Scroll signal pinpointed her at. She didn’t answer any calls they made to her, neither did Tyrian. 

Clover clutched the rabbit’s foot hanging from his belt. “They’re fine. They could hold the Grimm off until we made it there, it’s only been half an hour. They’re fine,” Clover kept whispering to himself, trying to use his semblance to calm himself. With luck, they'll be okay.

He tried to call Tyrian again, “Please, Tyrian, please answer.”

It rang for a few moments, before it simply went to voicemail. They were nearing the drop off point, so Clover returned his Scroll to his pocket.

He turned to Elm and Vine. “Be ready for anything, we don’t know how many Grimm there are and we don’t know if they’re injured or not.”

“They’ll be okay,” Elm said as she and Vine leapt from the ship.

“They have to be,” Clover said to himself, before he jumped.

With Kingfisher in hand, Clover swung the line to attach to a tree branch. As he neared the ground, he glided above the snow briefly before detaching the hook. He landed on his feet as the fishing line reeled itself in.

Vine and Elm landed before him and walked over to meet him.

“There are no Grimm in sight,” Vine said, “I believe it should be safe to assume they managed to kill them before we arrived.”

“We still need to find them, they could be hurt and they still aren’t answering their Scrolls,” Clover replied as he lead them towards Aurea and Tyrian’s location, as it appeared on his map.

Tyrian was supposed to be the closest to their current location, but they were unable to see him anywhere. Even with Clover’s luck, they didn’t feel like they should call out to him, in fear of attracting more Grimm.

The three Ace-Ops members fanned out in search of him, but remained within sight of each other. Clover walked slowly as he looked in the snow banks for any sign of his teammate. There were almost no signs of life, aside from some tracks in the snow. He desperately looked for Tyrian’s dark braided hair, or a shine of light reflected off of Scorpion Stings blades.

“Clover! Vine!”

Clover immediately sprinted towards Elm’s location, whispering a silent prayer she had found Tyrian and he was okay. When he arrived, though, the scorpion Faunus was still nowhere in sight.

“Elm!” Vine shouted, moments before he met up with them.

Elm simply had a frown on her face and then she held out a shattered Scroll. Tyrian’s.

“No…,” Clover whispered, eyes locked on the mangled device.

Vine’s eyebrows furrowed, “Did you find anything else?”

“No,” Elm said softly, “do you think…?”

“No, no, he has to be okay,” Clover said, then gasped. “Aurea, we need to find her, now!”

Elm put Tyrian’s Scroll into her pocket before all three of them began to sprint in the direction of Aurea’s Scroll signal, following Clover’s map. Clover brushed his fingers over his four-leaf clover pin, using his semblance in higher concentration. They needed to find her.

They stopped when they reached the vicinity of the signal and right in front of them, laid Aurea’s scroll, half buried in the snow. Vine reached over and picked it up. It had no visible damage, unlike Tyrian’s.

“Spread out and search for her, she has to be nearby,” Clover ordered and they fanned out again. He could only hope for a more successful search this time as he tapped his pin again.

Clover walked towards a nearby cluster of rocks. The snow crunched beneath his feet upon every step. The large, dark rocks grew nearer and were a striking contrast against the white snow. Here, the snow had been disturbed by something; simple walking, or a fight against the Grimm. Clover couldn’t tell, but he knew he must be drawing close to something. 

He rounded around the rocks and instantly froze. He stared at the ground in horror, his mind completely blank as his body continued to function.

He felt himself press his earpiece and say with an unreadable voice, “Get to my location, now.”

Aurea laid before him in the snow, half propped up by the boulder. Her eyes were closed as her head tilted to the side, dried tear stains on her cheeks. Her stomach was coated in blood and an odd purple liquid he’d never seen before. She had a deep puncture wound in her stomach, obviously shaped as if it had been done by a Deathstalker Grimm's or—Clover’s entire body stiffened—Tyrian's stinger. The same purple stained the snow next to her and oddly, had begun to corrode the rock behind her. 

“Clover, what—” Elm’s question was cut off by a gasp. She and Vine stood, equally frozen, by Clover.

They stood in silence, completely still, for minutes. After some time, Vine carefully moved towards Aurea, as he knelt down to examine the snow, rocks, and… her. Clover could do nothing but stare in silence, his mind as quiet as the land.

Vine started slowly, “This…” he said as motioned to the purple stains, “I believe is poison. Though, it should be tested.”

Vine stood again and made his way around Aurea to pick up her whip, Flycatcher, which laid in the snow ten feet away.

“We should… call this in, right?” Elm said as she looked away.

Clover’s brain finally spun again, “We should… yeah, call…” 

Scroll in hand, Clover directly called General Ironwood. When he answered, Clover skipped the formalities, “General, we have a problem.”

***

It snowed the day of Aurea’s funeral. It started lightly, hardly noticeable as it slowly coated the tops of Clover’s boots. He stood with the other three Ace-Ops members.

_ Three. _

Clover had to constantly remind himself that they were a team of four now. Not six.

He stared blankly ahead and hardly processed the ceremony around him. His eyes locked on the headstone in front of him, but his mind desperately played out different versions of what could have happened that day. The many ways Tyrian could have been pushed to do this. The many ways he could have stopped it.

When they had returned to Atlas, Clover reported what happened to the General. Tyrian was added to the AWOL list effective immediately. Though, his case had extra notes; “possibly rogue” and “possibly dead.”

Even as he stood in the cold and stared at a headstone he could pull up that exact file in his mind, recall every detail, every word.

Aurea would have hated today. She always hated the snow of Atlas, the cold. Menagerie was tight, confining, and crowded when she visited, but at least it was warm. She never particularly liked Atlas anyways, Clover recalled, she hated Atlesian society. Most of all, she would have hated this silence. Aurea loved bright colors, laughing, and making others laugh. Today was cold and dreary. There were no smiles; who knew when any member of the Ace-Ops would manage a legitimate one.

The snow became too heavy for them to stay out any longer. It piled up to nearly the top of their boots. Elm, Vine, and Harriet, who was still on crutches, gently reminded Clover they should go in. He told them to go ahead, he’d catch up in a moment. They hesitated, briefly, before they left.

Clover allowed himself to look upon his teammate’s, no, his _ friend’s _ grave for another minute. He then turned and followed the others, leaving the stone to its fate of being buried by the snowstorm.

_ Aurea Belle _

_ Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky _

***

The electric clock proclaimed it was midnight and Clover could not sleep. It was exactly one month since they found Aurea and Tyrian was proclaimed missing. Yesterday, he was taken down from the AWOL list and is now listed as a deserter, still possibly rogue. Both lists were short, because it was so rare.

Clover stared up at his ceiling, trying to force his mind to go blank so he could go into a fitful sleep. Every waking and sleeping moment he thought of his team, his _ whole _team.

“What went wrong?” he whispered to the ceiling tiles, as if expecting a God to answer him. “Why… why would you do that, Tyrian? What changed?”

He forced his thoughts to return to his remaining team members, desperately searching for a way to help them.

Harriet was still furious, she poured every waking moment into training and went until she could no longer stand. She often screamed when she fought the automatons, whether just shouts or enraged shrieks of how Tyrian betrayed them.

Elm and Vine were never apart now, even more so than before. Over the past month, Elm had been rather silent, no longer speaking her mind as freely as before. She was dealing with her grief silently, sharing quiet looks with Vine. She was slowly returning back to her usual self, it was difficult for her, Clover thought. Her jokes and stories were no longer met with Aurea’s loud, croaking laughter, but she still tried, for herself and everyone else.

Vine was radio silent as far as Clover could tell. He could never get a read on how Vine felt. He knew Vine was grieving just as they all were, but he never spoke up about it.

Clover slammed his fist into his mattress.

He felt like such a failure. How could he live up to Atlas’s expectations of him as leader when something like this happens. He knows he could’ve done something, but he doesn’t know what. He should have been there for Tyrian, something drove him down this path. He should have gone on the mission with them, at the very least to protect Aurea.

What use was his semblance when things like this still happened around him? 

Even now, he’s failing as a leader. He has no solutions to their strife and no one spoke to him about their grief. He wanted to be the kind of leader people could lean on in good times and bad. 

He laughed bitterly to himself. _ How could I expect them to think of me as a leader when it was _ my _ partner who did this? _

Clover forced himself up at this thought. He refused to lay in bed and stew in his grief any longer. That wouldn’t change anything. 

He changed his clothes before heading out to walk the academy grounds; try to clear his head. Or at the very least, tire himself out so he could finally sleep.

He silently wandered the darkened, empty halls of the academy for an hour. The only light in the hall was from the moon through the large windows. The school was on break, so very few students remained on campus. His thoughts attempted to linger back onto the previous contemplations, but every time his mind began to stray, he forced it to another topic.

He approached the staircase leading back up to the dorms for the fifth time, ready to finally call it a night. That idea quickly left, when he heard a strange rhythmic tapping from behind a column. 

Clover steeled himself. “Who’s there?” he asked, his voice cutting the sounds. The tapping stopped.

Then, something poked out. 

Clover squinted. A tail?

Clover froze. _ A scorpion tail. _

Tyrian stepped out, still lightly tapping his hand against the column. Scorpion Stings were attached to his wrists and his braided hair lightly swung behind his back as he walked into the dull moonlight.

“Hello, old friend,” he said with an odd smile on his face.

Clover’s voice was quieter now, a bit wobbly. “Tyrian?”

Tyrian let out a low laugh. “But, of course. You didn’t think I’d abandon you all without a trace, did you?”

He leaned forward, tail swishing behind him, as he continued to laugh. He sounded completely deranged. 

“You… but you…” Clover inwardly cursed his shaking voice. “You killed her, didn’t you?”

A smirk.

“You’re going to have to be a bit more specific.”

Clover’s heart dropped as Tyrian moved closer. Scorpion Stings brightly reflecting the moonlight, causing the light to fracture around the hall.

“Though, I suppose you mean dear Miss Froggy,” Tyrian continued, echoing the nickname he often called Aurea during training. 

“Why?”

Tyrian paused, the smirk slipping off his face as he tilted his head in thought. 

Clover has never seen anything truly evil besides the Grimm, but the smile that made its way across Tyrian’s face came terrifyingly close.

He leaned forward, close to Clover’s face. “I suppose, it’s simply my nature. I just couldn’t control myself any longer,” his tail began to raise over his shoulder, stinger pointed directly at Clover. “Can you truly blame me, dear friend?”

Heart pounding, Clover looked into Tyrian’s face, meeting his purple eyes.

His brain pauses. Purple? Tyrian’s eyes are yellow, not purple. Yet, here he was, staring Tyrian directly in the face.

His mind raced back, conjuring images of that very same purple. Tyrian’s aura. The glow of Tyrian's hands when he used his semblance. The dried blood on Aurea’s wounds, tinged a strange color. The poison that had stained the snow and corroded the rocks. The very same in Tyrian’s eyes.

Tyrian truly had killed Aurea, he could no longer offer himself slim chances that it wasn’t the case. Now, Tyrian was going to kill him and Clover could do nothing to stop him.

His shaky breath betrayed his fear as the stinger inched its way closer to his face. Then, it paused.

Clover watched as Tyrian blinked and his yellow eyes returned.

Before Clover could react, Tyrian ran. Clover was stunned for a moment, then attempted to chase after him. He rounded the corner to face the corridor Tyrian had ran down, but Tyrian was gone.

Tyrian was gone again.

The sharp point of Tyrian’s stinger still burned into his mind, Clover leaned against the wall.

_ Lucky break, I suppose, _ he thought to himself as he sunk to the ground.

He sat against the wall until daybreak, weeping for the loss of two friends.

***

That morning, Clover learned top Atlesian scientist, Arthur Watts, had been declared missing, and likely murdered, in his home library. Due to the nature of the damage, excessive blood, and the purple poison that corroded the floor. Atlas military personnel would search for Watts, however, there was little hope in finding him.

***

Clover was 29 when he stood in General Ironwood’s office, along with the other three Ace-Ops members. They stood at attention, awaiting an order to track a pack of Grimm, or a lone dangerous one.

However, Ironwood raised his hand and motioned for them to relax.

“I did not call you here for a mission today,” he said simply.

Clover and the other three slowly looked between each other as they relaxed slightly, now curious of what the General had for them.

Ironwood’s gaze traveled to each of them, lingering on Clover. “I believe it’s time for you all to meet the new member of the Ace Operatives.”

They all had varying reactions. Vine simply raised his eyebrows, though he did not seem upset by this. Elm seemed excited, already trying to ask questions about them. Harriet was a bit tense, but allowed herself to smile.

Clover remained still, immediately lost in thought about their previous two members. Time had began to mend their wounds, but prodding around in this field of thought wasn’t something he recommended. 

“I know you all were all hurt by your last teammates’…” he paused, seemingly searching for the proper word to use, “departures. However, I believe it is time to continue enhancing your team.”

Clover nodded slightly, with time he had come to accept that he couldn’t have stopped what happened. Nothing of what happened was his fault, but he still felt guilty for it from time to time. His only hope was that he could be an even better leader for their new member.

General Ironwood’s eyes ran across each of them once again, before he nodded. Then, he spoke with a raised voice beyond them to the door, “You may come in.”

The Ace-Ops turned as the heavy door opened.

Clover’s eyes immediately scanned over his new teammate. He was a few years younger and wearing the official Ace-Ops uniform already, without any alterations made to it yet. His serious, bright blue eyes stood out against his dark complexion and hair. He seemed capable and very confident, with his head held high. However, that was likely an act to cover up his nervousness to be meeting them. Despite the confident demeanor, his canine tail hung low and was attempting to squeeze its way in-between his legs.

“This is Marrow Amin,” the General said, “he graduated top of his class from the Academy three years ago, and has been doing remarkably well within the military ever since. I believe he will fit in well with the Ace Operatives and exponentially improve with you.”

Marrow remained stone-faced at the introduction, but his tail was making headway in squeezing between his legs. It was victorious when General Ironwood turned on a holographic screen, broadcasting some of Marrow’s fighting from previous years in the academy and from military missions and exercises.

Clover gave Marrow a smile in an attempt to help calm his nerves as the video played out. Marrow returned it, though his tail didn’t move.

“His fighting style is… unlike anything I’ve ever seen before,” General Ironwood said, “but it seems very effective for him. It may just take time to get used to the,” on the video Marrow jumped into the air to catch the quickly rotating boomerang, “boomerang.”

Marrow flushed at that.

“Oh, I love that weapon!” Elm said as she turned to Marrow. “I’m sure we’ll have fun in training.”

Marrow perked up at that, his tail moving out from between his legs as it began to wag behind him. “Oh, thanks. I… designed it myself.”

Elm gave him a smile as Harriet spoke up, “Very cool, just try not to hit us with it.”

His tail froze as he blushed slightly, “H-Hey, that didn’t happen… much,” Marrow weakly defended.

“It will be our responsibility as well to make sure it doesn’t hit us, Hare,” Vine said, “once it leaves his hands, it’s out of his control.”

Harriet simply rolled her eyes.

Clover smiled, turning his attention back to his new team member, "Alright, welcome to the Ace-Ops, Marrow."

"You will be a wonderful addition to the team," Vine said.

"Yeah!" Elm exclaimed, "you'll be amazing. I can't wait to see you out in the field!"

"Just try to keep up," Harriet finished with a smirk, placing her hands on her hips.

Marrow smiled, puffing out his chest with pride, "I won't let you down."

_ Thwack thwack thwack thwack. _

With a chuckle, Clover looked down to see Marrow's tail wagging so hard in excitement, it continuously hit his thighs.

Harriet snickered as Marrow began to blush, attempting to stop his tail with his hand.

From behind them, Ironwood rose from his desk.

"Wonderful. You start team exercises with Marrow tomorrow. For today, get to know each other."

* * *

Now, at 31, Clover still stood as the leader of Atlas’s Ace Operatives, though changed.

His grieving green eyes still never strayed from Tyrian’s face, locked on the piercing yellow eyes. 

“He was my partner.”

**Author's Note:**

> [Beautiful art](https://milfsalem.tumblr.com/post/189300707839/tarot-card-based-on-gerome-s-fic-luck) by [ravenbranwyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenbranwyn) here on AO3!
> 
> I also made a few [picrews](https://gerome.tumblr.com/post/189477739571) and a small [drawing](https://gerome.tumblr.com/post/189498734701) of Aurea!
> 
> Aurea's headstone was inspired by Summer's. The poem excerpt on Aurea's is "In Memoriam, [Ring out, wild bells]" by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
> 
> I appreciate all comments and kudos! Thank you for reading!
> 
> My tumblr is @gerome


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